Monday, September 07, 2009

Inspiration

So I asked my friends, "Is it cheesy to be inspired by a movie?" To which they heartily replied, "Oh, no!" but really I think it is a bit cheesy to be inspired to actually DO something because of a movie. Enough said, but nevertheless, I--and they--were inspired by the movie Julie and Julia. It's a movie (originally a book) about a woman in Queens, NY, turning thirty, living in a grungy apartment with her husband and her cat, who finds herself in the undertaking of a crazy project. She decides (at her husband's suggestion) to cook all of the recipes from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 365 days and blog about it. It was a huge number of recipes...564 I believe, and she had this crummy little kitchen and this doubting mother and these nasty friends whom she admitted to not even liking, and she persevered through all of it, and actually completed the project. Of course she did. If she had not she would not now be famous, nor would I be writing about all this.

It wasn't her perseverance that was so inspiring to me...it was Julia Childs and her cooking that inspired me. In my heart of hearts I really enjoy cooking, but I struggle to enjoy it daily. It's that everyday "what's for dinner" question that wears me down and I really need to add some flair, some new skills...some butter, according to Julia.

I went to see the movie with one friend who is crazy about food and cooking. The other friend has "issues" with cooking, to put it simply. I love the idea of it--just not the dailiness of it. So we thought it would be fun to have a monthly cooking party, a Julia Child gathering of sorts where we all agree on the menu and then get together to make it. We could actually eat in the dining room and use the nice tableware, and we could gather in the kitchen and enjoy wonderful smells and conversation, and experience some delicious French food.

So there's the plan. The next step will be to actually make it happen. But if Julie can do 564 recipes in 365 days, then shouldn't 3 homeschooling moms be able to make 24 in 12 months? Theoretically, yes. More to come...I'll post when it comes together.